These Things Happen : Review

A vibrant, fresh coming-of-age novel, the first from an Emmy and Peabody Award winning writer?  Don't mind if I do.

A contemporary fiction for mature young adults (Oxymoron? no.) that will be read with relish by adults as well, one that's both laugh-out-loud funny on nearly every page and surprisingly moving in all the right places?  Hand it over pronto, please.

And shift over a seat, John Green, Libba Bray, and David Levithan, 'cause a worthy peer just stepped up to the table.

It's These Things Happen.  And he's Richard Kramer.

What's it about?  (From the PLC Tour site.)

THESE THINGS HAPPEN takes place right now, even as we speak … it’s the tale of a modern family, set among Manhattan’s progressive, liberal elite, the adults all prominent in their professions, rearing their children to be the same, confident that nothing much can harm them, ever.

The story starts when WESLEY BOWMAN, 16, sharp and funny and defiantly individual, moves downtown from his book editor mother’s home on the Upper East Side home to live with his father and his partner for the fall term of school; Wesley, becoming a man, feels the time has come for him to more closely know (his words here) the “man from whom I did, actually, spring.” Kenny, who came out after his marriage to Wesley’s mom ended, is a much-honored gay-rights lawyer, a regular on Rachel Maddow, Charlie Rose, a frequent contributor to the Op-ed page of the New York Times.

But Wesley, when he moves in, finds his father distant and inaccessible; he has much more luck connecting with his father’s partner, George, a former actor/dancer who now runs a theater district restaurant. George is present, genuinely interested, fully at ease with himself; all the things Kenny is not. He and Wesley become like father and son, really, and not because George is in any way trying to supplant Kenny. It’s just that these things happen.

Then everything changes. When Wesley’s closest friend surprises him and everyone else when, after being elected class president, he comes out at the end of his acceptance speech. The two boys find themselves at the center of an act of violent, homophobic bullying (even though Wesley is straight). Within the family, tolerant facades crumble as George, suddenly, becomes suspect. Wesley’s mom values and cares for him, and has worked to have a relationship with him, as she suspects this will assure the presence of Kenny in Wesley’s life. But, now, with Wesley in the hospital being held for observation (“When did I,” she wonders, “turn into someone whose kid is held for observation?”) isn’t it her duty to wonder and worry about what might have been going on when her back was so progressively turned? Did she fail to keep her son safe? Does she, indeed, know him? Does she know George, so delightful and pleasing, an author of agreeable evenings? And, more worryingly, does this accomplished, insightful, deeply curious woman really, in the end, know herself?

Why does this novel rise above so many competent yet cookie-cutter works featuring teen protagonists?

First, Kramer's created richly nuanced, smart, funny, and likable characters.  He demonstrates compassion for each character's imperfections, while offering us qualities to admire and aspire to in his protagonists and supporting characters as well.  

Second, the novel explores the complexities of a variety of salient contemporary topics, from parent-child relationships to blended families to "coming out" as a teenager to surviving in these times of economic uncertainty.  The events in this page-turning, smart new novel range from lightly comic to downright heart-breaking, and that's just the way most readers like their coming-of-age novels. 

And finally, the writing itself sings. When I read to review, I post a sticky note at every telling turn of phrase, every sentence I wish I'd written myself, so I can return to these tasty morsels as I pull my thoughts together.  Here's These Things Happen, with stickies.  Few were the pages I didn't mark.
To my mind, these are hallmarks of a book destined to endure, and to offer fruitful re-readings over the course of a lifetime.  I think this is one of those books.

And you don't have to take my word for it.  First, hop over to the "Look Inside" feature on Amazon to read the first pages of this novel, or to the book's featured page at its publisher, Unbridled Books.

Then go get it for yourself.

MFB,
L

p.s.  My actions?  If Richard Kramer comes to town on his book tour, I'll get myself to his appearance.  And he's inspired me to start saving for another trip back to NYC a.s.a.p.

In a Nutshell:  Recommended, for mature young adults and adults too. While the plot events and themes of Richard Kramer's first novel require a mature reader, it's the perfectly-pitched language and smart, decent, endearingly imperfect characters that will keep you reading and leave you wanting more from this new voice in contemporary, young adult fiction. 

The Island Horse by Susan Hughes

What a fine historical fiction for all horse-loving girls age six (precocious readers) through eleven-ish.

Or, if you're an adult who grew up a fan of the Misty of Chincoteague books or The Black Stallion series, you'll spend a nostalgic hour or two immersed in Ms. Hughes's sure-footed prose and her winning ten-year-old heroine Ellie.




Bonus: You'll visit Sable Island (off the coast of Nova Scotia), shipwreck capital of the Atlantic, in the early 1800's.  Fascinating history pairs with a sweetly (and age appropriately) transparent coming-of-age story that was surprisingly diverting for me.

And if you know a young girl who loves horses and would be comfortable - or perhaps even eager - encountering a story that starts with Ellie's mother's death and takes our heroine on a journey of healing as she gradually opens to the possibilities of her new Sable Island home, then be sure to give this pitch-perfect novel by award-winner Susan Hughes a try.

Rating: Four hooves a-pacing (out of five) for young horse-lovers.

And I'm back in the saddle again!

MFB,
L

p.s.  My action for this book: I researched Sable Island and also planned a trip out into our county's horse country to commune with a few of the locals. Perhaps I'll re-read Misty too, for our book group's return-to-childhood book focus next month.

An Abundance of Katherines Review, or How I Love Thee, JG.

Let me count the ways.

Reason I:  Always the awesome first sentence.

This guy.  He writes books.

Case in point:  "The morning after noted child prodigy Colin Singleton graduated from high school and got dumped for the nineteenth time by a girl named Katherine, he took a bath."

Reason II:  Unapologetically smart.
Case in point: Colin's speech and thinking are peppered with oddball factoids from history, the arts, literature, mathematics, philosophy, etc.  And that means we, the readers, get smarter - or at least reminded to exercise our smarts - too.

Reason III:  Funny as fug.  (I loves me some language play, I does.)
Case in point:  See above fug (which is a nod to Norman Mailer's The Naked and the Dead, who - upon being told that he simply could not publish a novel with so many f-bombs in it, changed them all to their sound-akins and thereby launched one of the best sellers of its time), the recurrent use of "sitzpinkler" (you go look it up, 'cause I'm not telling), the main setting of "Gutshot, Tennessee", and too many other language-gags to count.

Reason IV: Funny as a "Friends" episode too, only deeper.
Case in point:  Situation comedy galore.  Two urban yutes, one a geeky, skinny dumpee, one a hirsute and rotund Lebanese Muslim, road-trip to the above-mentioned Gutshot, where they chance to meet a fetchingly no-nonsense young heiress to a tampon-string fortune, move into her mom's pink mansion, and get into all sorts of shenanigans as they get down to it with the colorful denizens of Gutshot.  Think wild pig hunts, jealous ex-football star boyfriends caught cheating in the graveyard, ''Hassan and the hornets' nest'.  That sort of situation comedy.


And the book you're referring to
would be???


Reason V:  More complex, more realistically rich in characterization than just about anyone writing Y.A. today.
Case in point:  Hassan, the hilarious sidekick, is conflicted - but not dwelling on it - because he loves his family and his faith and wants to honor them, but can't seem to get off his butt to do anything in life.  Colin's parents, though loving and laid back in most ways, may be too academic for their son's good, setting their child "markers" for achievement that keep him obsessed with his "prodigy, but not genius"  prospects (dim, by his reckoning).  That, and always being the 'dumpee' in a string of nineteen relationships with girls named Katherine, have him understandably depressed about his future and his very identity.  And that's just the tip of their proverbial icebergs.

Reason VI:  Unashamed of philosophy, and unabashedly a champion of learning.
Case in point:  See above, and note that Green's protagonists - here, in An Abundance of Katherines, in particular - are always smart and decent at the core, so they can carry musings about their place in the world and the world's place in the universe and humans' place in it all quite gracefully and naturally, offering adults and mature teens alike the opportunity to ponder "the big questions" with them.  Plus, Green manages to naturally weave in all sorts of fascinatingly quirky facts that actually add depth and interest rather than distracting from or conspicuously padding the work thematically (as can be true of lesser Y.A. writers' attempts to 'academically enrich' their work).

Reason VII:  World's Greatest Ear for Dialogue.
Case in point:  You must simply take my word for it (only for the span of this sentence though), as Green's dialogue is so integral to plot and characterization that I can find nary a short "set piece" that would offer a lucidly fair glimpse into his verbal gifts.  So how 'bout this: please oh please hop over to Amazon to read a snippet.  You will grin and love it, trust me.

And if all that is not enough for you (AND IT OUGHTA BE), check out John Green's adorable vlogpost on his site.  If that doesn't get you, I don't know what's to do.

So, CALL ME, John Green.  And, gentle readers, go devour An Abundance of Katherines. 

MFB,
L

p.s.  Cage match:  Cinder V. An Abundance of Katherines.  Katherines, round one, in a knock-out.

So: Cinder.

Wicked stepsister.  Check.
Dead dad.  Check (we think).
Prince Charming.  Check.
Persecuted heroine who just doesn't fit in.  Check.
Wicked stepmother.  Check.  And double-check.

Add:  Moon people terrorizing earthlings with their psychic powers and magicked beauty and ruthlessness. 
Add: Cyborgs and androids and plagues: Oh, my!

This fledgling effort by twenty-something writer Marissa Meyer offers reasonably quick pacing and many not-entirely-expected plot twists, so it kept me interested most of the time.

What it doesn't boast is strong sentence-level writing (translation: not a single beautiful or surprising turn of phrase to be had, so typical of so much Y.A. nowadays - and, yes: back in the day it was better).  I won't quote from the serviceable but mediocre prose - you've seen enough of it by now, I'm sure - but I will share another concern I felt about this novel, even as I closed the cover on its last page:

Cinder's a cypher (in addition to being a cyborg), rather akin to Bella in the Twilight series:  Beyond a certain basic spunkiness, she's defined primarily by how she reacts to others' actions, even though her perspective is the dominant one in this fantasy/sci-fi hybrid.  And she - I suppose, in true teen fashion - often has no idea why she thinks, feels, or acts as she does.  Perhaps this allows more readers to project themselves onto her and thus stay engaged with this plot-driven novel, but I always want to "have it all" where stories are concerned and prefer my protagonists both psychologically dimensional and dynamic.

On the bright side, I think that many young teens will find this futuristic fantasy set in "New Beijing" enjoyable because Ms. Meyer sets up her heroine as the victim on many levels, thus readers will empathize not only with Cinder's lack of self-reflection and self-knowledge but also with her status as "other".  In contrast, equally young Prince Kai seems thoughtful, balanced, dimensional, and deliberate, at least when it counts plausibility-wise.  He's a heartthrob too, and I'm guessing that girls - clearly the audience for Cinder - will dream quite a few little dreams of him as they await the next two installments of this series.

A final gripe, a final grin:
a.  This book in no way stands on its own.  It simply ends only about half way through the Cinderella story plot.  Frustrating when a novel doesn't at least offer closure within one story-arch.

b.  The cover's pretty rad, though, eh?

MFB, as you can't judge a book by...
L

AND I would probably pick up the next installment just to see what happens to poor "between a rock and a hard place" Prince Kai.  So there.

Hurt Go Happy: A YA Project Nim?



Get it at Betterworldbooks where a
book-for-book donation program
just began.  Score one for yourself,
then they give one for literacy.

Take one part child abuse, another part the challenges of growing up deaf in a hearing family, another part animal rights.  Add a dose of middle school drama and a peppering of overprotective parenting bordering on the pathological.  Blend with a kindly old mentor, a coastal rain forest, and a young chimp named Sukari. 

Take it all on a road trip for a coming-of-age story that's also an issue novel and you get Hurt Go Happy.

Our protagonist Joey's a sympathetic and unique teen, coping with daily challenges while secretly trying to learn ASL so she can move beyond the isolation enforced by her guilt-ridden mother.  Our antagonists are many and believable - no super villains, but rather a realistic series of earthly humans making questionable choices with which Joey must contend.  And she's got her share of allies too: again, perfectly imperfect for this contemporary tale.

Plus our author's done her research:  We experience realistic great ape behaviors, learn of their plight in research facilities, and come to understand the challenges of caring for them humanely, and we learn a bit of American Sign Language - with its spacial syntax and often poetic precision - along the way. 

If you or a teen in your life is interested in what it means to be human, what we share with the great apes, and what homo sapiens sometimes do to our physically powerful but politically near-powerless kin, then steer them over to this potentially eye-opening and certainly thought-provoking YA novel. 

My Action: I'm going to round up a crew of people to go see the new documentary Project Nim when it hits my town the week of September 8, then double check that I am not personally consuming any goods or services tested on animals. (I'm pretty vigilant about this, but it's easy for a new product to sneak through...)

I hope y'all will check out the website and consider attending your local showing too.

MFB,
L

p.s. Shout out to writer Ms. Rorby who's now an Action Reader!  Welcome, and thank you for using your writing to help young people - and adults as well - take a look at serious moral issues often hidden from view.   Thanks as well for including a section at the back of the novel that makes it easier for those moved by the story of Sukari and Joey to take action on behalf of great apes.

For Your TBR Pile: Two compelling contemporary YA novels Tall Story by Candy Gourlay and Nothing by Janne Teller

These two impressed me immensely, and I recommend them to you as quick reads that also offer depth and confident writing that's sometimes lacking in YA novels.

Tall Story by Candy Gourlay
To sum up: 
    16-year-old giant Bernardo lives in the tiny village of San Andres on the island of Montalban in the Philippines.  His mom, his budding 13-year-old basketball-star sister Andi, and his step-dad William live in London.  But why is he a giant and is he also a god?  What will happen when he finally leaves San Andres to reunite with his family in London?  Will his village crumble without his magical intervention?  Will Andi survive the humiliation of this giant - long on sweetness, short on English speaking skills and modern urban life - in her midst as she tries to carve out a place for herself on the basketball court and among the teens at her new school?
My opinion: 
    The magical realism-ish elements of this story completely won me over, as did Courlay's clean and often lightly humorous writing style, her characters' fundamental decency despite all their flaws, and her ability to present current teen problems in a believable yet relatively optimistic light without devolving into the trite or maudlin or stereotypical.  Although this book could be read by middle graders (based on both content and reading level), I actually think teens and adults will enjoy it as well.  I'm grateful to Enbrethiliel at Shredded Cheddar for suggesting it.
****/5

Nothing by Janne Teller, tr. Martin Aitken
To sum up: 
    On the first day of school of their 7th form year in their nearly-posh hamlet of Taering, Denmark, Pierre Anthon declares that life has no meaning, leaves school, and sits in a plum tree.  His peers can't stand the idea that their lives will amount to nothing, philosophically speaking, nor do they appreciate being pummeled with plums every time they pass by.  So they decide to prove to Pierre that he's wrong by building a 'heap of meaning' in an abandoned sawmill.                     
    Unfortunately, no one's all that anxious to contribute an object of true personal meaning for themselves, so they begin to choose each others' objects and to require increasingly meaningful but risky-dangerous contributions to the pile.  Will adults intervene before it's too late?  Will the young teens find it within themselves to shut down their hurtful meaning-making project?  Therein lies the story.
My opinion:
    And this one's quite the antithesis of Tall Story.  It's creepy and sometimes even difficult to connect with - at least early in the novel.  In my opinion, although it's been labeled a children's book in its home country of Denmark, elementary age children aren't an ideal target audience - this book is simply too darkly realistic on the one hand and possibly too philosophical in the end, plus not that involving character-wise without some patience. 
   I would, however, recommend it strongly to mature late-middle readers and teens, with adult support, as it's so rich with reasonably complex symbolism and black humor descending into the seriously macabre, and so believably explores the darker side of thirteen-fourteen year olds - not quite beyond childhood, not always understanding the world or themselves, but playing at it all the while for their peers (and parents) and capable of extreme cruelty and/or stupidity at key moments in otherwise stable lives - that it's truly compelling.   
   This first "children's" novel by an award winning Danish novelist was recommended as an alternate to the modern classic Lord of the Flies, and one can easily see why, as peer pressure and desire for personal power escalate here well beyond what the characters themselves might have predicted if they had been predisposed to predict.  So although this might be categorized as a near-allegory, it's simply taking natural, believable tendencies to extremes worth exploring in discussion with the teen(s) in your life.   Plus, in the end, it's also an exploration of meaning itself and how we all find it, create it, and lose it again, a topic well worth considering for adults too.
*****/5

MFB, on the continuing quest to find more excellent world lit. for young adults,
L

My action: I'm going to make sure we get copies of these for our school library, and will advocate for purchasing a lit. circle set of Tall Story, plus a class set of Nothing for our 10th grade classes as a complement to Lord of the Flies.

Friday First Sentence & Fifty-Six: Haroun and the Sea of Stories Review (briefly)

Apparently, it's a man's week.  And a week of 'classics' too.  I'm reading War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy, Roots by Alex Haley, Siddhartha by Herman Hesse, and Favorite Sons by Robin Yocum. But wait: there's one more to add to my list, and it's my favorite:

There's Haroun, riding Butt the Hoopoe.

For language play and fun, fun, fun you can't do better than this staple in my read-again-and-again pile.  It is, of course, Haroun and the Sea of Stories, the 'children's' book written by Salman Rushdie in 1990.  And the opening line presages the language play of things to come:

There was once, in the country of Alifbay, a sad city, the saddest of cities, a city so ruinously sad that it had forgotten its name.  It stood by a mournful sea full of glumfish, which were so miserable to eat that they made people belch with melancholy even though the skies were blue.

Rushdie penned this allegorical novel about the energy of language, the transformative power of a son's love for his imperfect father, and the dangers of 'khattam shud' - in this context, silencing others - for his own son, from whom Rushdie was estranged while he was in hiding from death threats, including the fatwa pronounced by the Ayatollah Khomeini.  Despite the dire circumstances, this novel is decidedly light-hearted (in the main) and full of the sort of humor both young boys and adults of all notions can enjoy.  I've read it at least half a dozen times and return to it when I need a lightening of my reading heart, but with depth of soul. 

On page 56, Haroun calls upon Iff, the Water Genie, to help restore the storyteller's gifts to his father: Rashid Khalifa, the Shah of Blah, the Ocean of Notions.  It's a simple matter of plumbing, apparently:  Rashid Khalifa maintains a subscription to the Sea of Stories whose magical streams course through pipes and into the bathtub, when all is well.  But all is not well.  Khalifa's wife, Haroun's mom Soraya, has left him for a less fanciful man, and he can no longer remember his stories.  And so, the pipes won't run and Iff pops by to try to fix them:

  "The Disconnector", the other pointed.  "Hand it over, return to sender, restore to rightful owner: give up, yield, surrender."
   Now Haroun noticed that the tool he held was no more like a monkey wrench than the blue-beard's head was like an onion: in other words, it had the general outline of a wrench, but it was somehow more fluid than solid, and was made up of thousands of little veins flowing with differently coloured liquids, all held together by some unbelievable, invisible force.  It was beautiful.

If you haven't yet read Haroun, you'll find it a lively summer read, and it's readily available just about everywhere. 

Now why not relax at the end of a long week by sampling a few more "Book Beginnings" and 'Friday 56' peeks at your next great reads?

MFB,
L

p.s.  Don't forget:  Poem In Your Post Blog Hop this (and every) weekend.  Just post a poem and link up here to share the language-love!

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray - Review

Get it at betterworldbooks.com or indiebound.org.

It's disappointing, especially for a Libba Bray fan.  Sure, she delivers her usual page-turning, wry-smile-inducing read, but Bray's new young adult novel seems cobbled together and more than a little self-conscious, preachy, after school special-y, and almost B-movie-esque, but not in the ways she intends.

To sum up: A plane-load of teen beauty queens crashes on a tropical island already inhabited by a secret arms-dealing branch of The Corporation.  Giant snakes, hallucinatory berries, and exploding Lady 'Stache-Off hair remover are the least of the young women's worries, but the question is: Will the reality-TV pirates be able to save them or will they save the pirates?

My Opinion:  This parody/social satire seems to have gone to press way too soon: way too many characters that seem pre-cast with Hollywood A-listers just waiting for the screenplay; unsuccessful shifts and lapses in rhetorical stance; attempts at (David Foster Wallace-esque?) footnoting that jar us out of Bray's trademark breezy, forceful plotting; surfacey attempts to address dozens of social issues faced by teens and our society at large; and fantasy elements mixing with a reality-TV concept at way-too-coincidental moments combine to make this novel a true let-down.

I'm sorry, Libba: I still admire your humor and creativity, but you and David L. rushed this too closely on the heels of Going Bovine, I'll warrant. Another draft in which you honed Beauty Queens in every regard would have made this another exceptional effort. As it stands, it's a mixed up, though often entertaining, mess.

MFB,
L

Three-Fer Thursday Strikes Again! (The Creative Habit, The Millionaire Messenger & Beauty Queens Review)

I'll start with two five-star favorites in recent reading, and then leave the let-down for last (and if you're a Libba Bray fan, as I am, prepare for disappointment...).

The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life by Twyla Tharp

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


If you want to push your own creativity and you enjoy reading about the arts, sports, and business, especially dance, then this book will soon become a treasured favorite for inspiration and action. Tharp is a surprisingly fine writer: clear and energetic, rather like her dances. And she offers many suggestions for practices to get you out of creative ruts and into productivity. Worth owning, at least for me.

To see how others are using The Creative Habit, take a peek at the discussion on ActionReaders.com...


The Millionaire Messenger: Make a Difference and a Fortune Sharing Your Advice by Brendon Burchard

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This stellar how-to gives all of us the principles and practices to help others and improve our own lives by sharing our expertise. In fact, in this book, Brendon shares a significant amount of his own multi-million-dollar expertise quite freely, and reading it will no doubt catapult you into action on your own.

I wouldn't have founded http://actionreaders.com/ and begun working in earnest on my own book if I hadn't attended a four-day intensive with him (and 800 experts in a wide variety of fields from all over the world - what a powerhouse group!). Much of what he taught - dynamically and engagingly in every regard, I might add - is right here in this book, and for a tiny investment compared to what you could gain by following some of his advice.

I'm not a money-oriented person, although I'm all for the Universe compensating me for my efforts whenever possible, so the "millionaire" angle isn't my motivator. It's spreading my enthusiasm for the power of reading - and of building community and taking positive action toward personal and social change - to save the world. Tall order? Sure. But so's earning a million bucks in a year or less. And if anyone can help me - and you - achieve either of these goals, it'd probably be Brendon Burchard.

And he writes well too - quite informally yet packed with action-worthy information and insight - and I understand that he narrates the audio book too. He's a fast-talker, but very dynamic and earnest and energetic too, so I'd buy that too, if you're one for the 'tandem read'... (And anybody who knows me IRL knows that I could match him word for word in a speed-speaking contest!)

And now, for the sad truth... Hop up to my full review of Libba Bray's new Y.A. satire/parody, Beauty Queens.

MFB, in threes,
L
View all my reviews (at Goodreads)

Three-fer Thursday: Young, Younger, Youngest



Get it at indiebound.org.

Young Adult:  Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist
To sum up: This is David Levithan's first collaborative novel.  He wrote Nick while Rachel Cohn wrote Nora, two high school seniors on the loose for one long in Manhattan.  They start out at punk clubs and end up in love at the Marriott Marquis.  Nuff said on plot, because it's not really about plot.
My Opinion...
It's about voices and a slice-o-life of this time period and place.  Also about sex and drugs and rock-n-roll(although both protagonists are "straight-edge": no alcohol or other intoxicants).  I loved the trip back to my favorite city on earth, and all the wit and music.  Didn't love the "let's have sex after meeting each other four hours ago and fighting half the time: how romantic!" part.  Also, it pales by comparison to Will Grayson, Will Grayson; I think that Cohn's considerably darker, whinier tone didn't stand up to Levithan's as well as John Green's did.  Perhaps I shouldn't have read Nick and Nora so quickly after that wonderful YA novel.
***/5 for impact and style, and definitely a PG-13/R for sex and language.  The plot's your typical romance with no particularly unique twists.



Get it at indiebound.org.

 Younger still (middle grade/elementary reader): The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
To sum up:  Hugo's an orphan who lives in the secret passageways of a 1931 Paris train station, occupying himself by winding the clocks in his dead uncle's stead.  One day, he has a run-in with the station's toy store owner, leading to a series of unusual events, two strong friendships, and a mysterious automaton who holds the clue to the toy-maker's past and Hugo's future.
My opinion...
Wonderful illustrations and steampunkish devices are by far the highlights here.  The plot is interesting, but the writing, alas, is not.  In fact, I found myself skipping the prose and just moving through the illustrated sections which truly shine here in their storyboard-esque black-and-white intensity.
***/5 for the intense charcoal (?) illustrations and the period details, and for piquing one's interest in the silent filmmaker Georges Melies.  (My action was to check out some of his films on YouTube, especially his "A Trip to the Moon", noted as the first science fiction film, and to research his life.)



Get it at Indiebound.org.

Youngest: The Giggler Treatment by Roddy Doyle (yes, the Roddy Doyle!)
To sum up:  If you're an adult who's mean to a kid, beware the Giggler Treatment!  It involves poo...  Nuff said.
My opinion...
Young kids will LOVE this one as a read-aloud, with all its silly subversiveness and lightly scatological humor.  My guess is that adults will enjoy it too as Doyle strikes the perfect balance between fun and family here. Talking dogs, chameleon-like pixies, and a sage in nappies round out the cast, so do go find it at the library. Your kids will thank me!
****/5 For laugh-out-loud silliness on nearly every page plus plenty of hilarious black-and-white illustrations. Could be a read-aloud for youngsters or a quick read-alone for elementary-age kids, depending on their reading level.

MFB,
L
p.s. Actions:  Going to look for the actual playlist of all the songs in Nick and Nora's.  Did research on Georges Melies and watched some of his films. Scooped poop.  No kidding: We don't have a dog right now, but our neighbor's dogs favor our front lawn.  What we won't do for peace in The Polyp. (The Polyp = our neighbor Mark's nickname for the dogleg-off-a-dogleg we live on.)

Sold by Patricia McCormick (briefly)

Get it from Indiebound.org.

A young adult issue novel about sexual trafficking between hill towns in the Nepalese Himalayas and Calcutta, India.

To sum up:  Lyrically written as a series of short vignettes voiced by Lakshmi, a thirteen year old girl living in a hut on a Himalayan hillside, who is sold into slavery by her stepfather.  She endures many torments in a brothel, including of course daily rapings by her madame's customers, as well as plenty of brutal treatment by her captors and fellow slaves.  Eventually, through acts of kindness by a young, also rural-born tea vendor, friends among her fellow prostitutes, and two American advocates, she is rescued from her awful plight.

Who would benefit from reading this novel?  Teens and adults who are ready for the content (occasional - and thematically, psychologically necessary - descriptions of Lakshmi's rapes are tastefully done but strategically explicit at times) and are comfortable with a quietly lyrical voice and moderate pacing.  Readers who have not encountered this ongoing issue before and are looking for a first-person perspective based on Patricia McCormick's (author of the widely popular Cut and other YA issue novels) research will find it an engaging and thought-provoking introduction to this serious problem.

MFB,
L

Action:  I'm going to request a lit. circle/reading group set for next year's world lit. class, because I've seen quite a few students with this book already, and feel it would be a worthwhile and relatively easy read for students who can handle the content.  This novel was a National Book Award finalist for 2007, so that too will help me justify it as a selection. 
And I will, of course, research the organizations that are working to stop sexual trafficking (and all human trafficking, for that matter), so that I can help students find ways to make a positive difference on this issue.

p.s. The girl on the cover, though lovely, looks about 7 years old.  Lakshmi is 13.  This likely turns some teen readers off as they don't like to carry around books that look like they're meant for elementary school kids.  It's too bad - even if the cover photo is actually of a 13 year old girl, images count in our society and that one isn't helping get this book into the hands of its intended readers.

Will Grayson, Will Grayson (briefly): Go Read It, Go Read It

Get it at Indiebound or your public library.

In a nutshell: My favorite YA novel of the year.  And I want you all to read it.

To sum up:  Two Will Graysons live in the metro-Chicago area.  Both are in high school.  One is straight, with a larger-than-life gay best friend.  The other is clinically depressed and 'in the closet', but ready to come out.  They all meet through a series of unfortunate events one night in Chicago, and all three characters' lives are changed by their encounter.

What's to like? 
     The dueling voices of the two Will Graysons (Wills Grayson?), one written by John Green (Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines), the other by David Levithan (Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist, The Lover's Dictionary) are each energetic, singular, witty, and entirely real.   And Tiny Cooper, one of the Will's best friend, is an unforgettably joyous, bossy, creative, loving, careless giant of a character.  All three evolve over the course of the narrative, and even the supporting characters are quirky, flawed, and yet sympathetically drawn.
     It's quick paced, and the plot, though in some ways traditional, is in no way predictable from page to page.  And besides, it's such a fun ride that you get swept up in the action.  It's a fast read, and quite satisfying.
     Plus there's insight here about human nature and the way some young guys think that was actually new to me, even after all these years working with teens. 

So just go read it, OK?

A caution:  If you are at all concerned about swearing and frank sexuality, then you will definitely be put off by this book.  However, despite my concerns about gratuitous sex and coarse language in many current YA fictions, in Will Grayson, Will Grayson these are not tacked-on to sell books, but rather organic to the characters and necessary for the story.  On the other hand, I could never ever teach this book as a whole-class read in a high school setting.  At least not this decade...

That doesn't mean I won't go on recommending it to adults and teens who are ready to take on this material, beautifully treated.  In fact, it would be a fantastic book to read and discuss with one's own teenager or teenage friend.

MFB,
L

Action: I've been loudly recommending this to everyone I know, and I passed along my copy already.  I vow to convince at least five more people to read this book.  If you're convinced and would be willing to give it a go, please let me know in the comment section so I can track my progress.  It would make a quick summer beach read too...

AND, since I've read quite a few John Green books but no David Levithans, I'm starting with Nick & Nora's Infinite Playlist, then moving on to The Lover's Dictionary.

Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt : Audio Book Week Review

Have you ever 'read tandem'? 

You know:  You listened to an audio while you read the text version of a book, alternating between the text and the audio?  My first 'tandem read' was Rohinton Mistry's A Fine Balance, and I've used the tandem read strategy as a regular practice ever since, especially when devouring young adult books.  However you might have answered this question though, I suggest it's time to try the audio/text strategy (again?) with Okay For Now by Gary D. Schmidt, performed by Lincoln Hoppe.

This new novel from Newbery and Printz honor winner Gary Schmidt balances intense pathos with light, easygoing humor, sympathetic and original characters, important and serious issues, and well-integrated symbolism to produce what, in the end, is an exceptional YA/middle-reader fiction.

To sum up:  We follow the beleaguered almost-eighth-grader Doug Swieteck as his abusive father packs him up, along with his bullying older brother Christopher and their passive, long-suffering mom, and moves them from populous Long Island to small-town "Marysville" in upstate New York.  To find out how Doug - a minor character in Schmidt's award-winning The Wednesday Wars - copes imperfectly but admirably with the effects of his dad's abuse (and I've rarely felt the sort of rage Schmidt evokes through this adult antagonist's habitual sociopathic verbal abuse and horrible misuses of parental authority, not to mention his "quick hands") and the trials of weaving a new web of relationships in a small town summer, all without the aid of his idol, baseball great Joe Pepitone, is the reason we take this journey.  And a rewarding one it is.  (And what an wonderfully sonorous name to provoke a smile every time you say it:  Joe Pepitone.  Go ahead: give it a go; you'll see.  I actually had to check that he was a real Yankee and is a real person!)

I don't want to give away too much more of the plot in this period piece (set in the Vietnam War era) and coming-of-age tale, except to say that Doug's development as he becomes an artist and a young adult while earning the respect of this small community is both heartening and richly rewarding.  And did I mention that a series of Audubon prints focus both the narrative and much of its symbolic/thematic resonance?  Schmidt's work here is ambitious for a middle-reader/young adult novel, and - in my opinion - he succeeds in crafting a novel well out of the ordinary.

But I'll say this:  After reading about a third of the book, I considered putting it down.  And then the audio CDs came in at the library, and once I could hear the rhythms of Doug's language through the adult performer Lincoln Hoppe's interpretation, I got inspired to keep reading.  In this case, it's vital to have the text in hand though, as each chapter is focused by an Audubon print that's pivotal to understanding some of the content and certainly the thematic resonances of the chapter.

MFB,
L

Who'd Enjoy This Especially:
Coming of Age novel fans, baseball lovers, folks who enjoy a strong, unique voice in first person protagonists, bird lovers, visual artists, middle- and high- school teachers looking for 'the next great book' for struggling readers and/or boys who just aren't that into reading, and young people wondering about what it's like to grow up with an abusive parent or to grow up in the Vietnam War era.

Action: I'm following in Dougie's footsteps by copying an Audubon print (way, way imperfectly, I'm sure).  Shout out to all the Action Readers getting their creative on this month!  Join us if you wanna at actionreaders.com!

And a moment of gratitude: I want to thank the poet and children's book writer Irene Latham for recommending this book.  When I saw  her rave review, I immediately put both text and CDs on hold at the library.  She's a fine writer in her own right (review of Leaving Gee's Bend here) and I trust her judgement.  In this case, I'm so glad that I did.

Thirteen Reasons Why OR A Dark Week in YA Lit., Part II

Gifted Teen Commits Suicide, Tortures Peers From Beyond The Grave.

That's the headline, and that's the premise of Jay Asher's novel, Thirteen Reasons Why, as many of you probably know:

Hannah Baker kills herself, but creates a set of audiotapes beforehand detailing how thirteen different people contributed to her death.  Then she blackmails the people on the tapes into sending the set along to the rest of the incriminated group by duplicating the set and leaving it with an anonymous "watcher" tasked with ensuring all Hannah's intended listeners indeed pass the tapes along.  If the chain breaks, the watcher will release the tapes to the public.

A rather creepy premise indeed but, like Stolen (reviewed here earlier this week), one that holds a distinct appeal to teens.  Thirteen Reasons Why sizzled like wildfire through the ranks of young women nationwide last year, and I watched it fly from hand to hand in my own school, so I can verify its popularity. 

And like Stolen, it plays on the misapprehensions and emotional confusion so prominent in teenage life.  But unlike Stolen, this novel realistically and grippingly explores the cruelties that teens deal out to each other on a regular basis and serves as a clear cautionary tale for all those who trade on rumor-mongering and bullying.  Its heroine, unlike Gemma in Stolen, is reasonably self-aware and understands her own participation in her demise, though she feels powerless to control her emotions or to stop her downward spiral into depression, isolation, and death.

Despite the harrowing subject matter, I found this to be a worthwhile listening experience, both in substance and in form.  The story here is tautly woven and uncomfortably addictive.  And the audio CDs I listened to featured two engaging actors (Debra Wiseman and Joel Johnstone), perfectly cast as the dual protagonists Hannah herself and Clay, the entirely decent young man who's listening to the tapes and waiting for the moment when she reveals what he has done to deserve inclusion on her list.

If you're going to try Thirteen Reasons Why - and if you're a parent, friend, or mentor of young teens, I suggest you do - the audio version is well worth your time. 

But do be prepared:  This is a trying experience, even though it's quite well paced and well done in every respect.  Even if we're not on the list, we feel the same horror, frustration, and powerlessness that Hannah's listeners do, all thirteen steps of the way.

MFB,
L

p.s.  Is anyone else having trouble viewing the Google 'Followers' app. in Explorer?  If so, are they working on it at Blogger or is there a fix?

Romanticizing Stockholm Syndrome OR A Dark Week in Popular Y.A. Fiction: Part I

Remember Go Ask Alice?  That 'diary' novel (?) by Anonymous that you kept hidden from your parents and then passed along to the next girl?  Well, it still gets passed around in exactly the same way.  Early-teenage girls, in particular, find it fascinating. 

And now they've so much more to choose from when they want to subsume themselves in dysfunction and misjudgment and self-pity - a slew, a plethora, an explosion of issue-novels mimicking the dark intensity of that early tell-all novel of drug addiction and self-hatred.  These newer novels, while not necessarily focused on drug abuse, appeal to that same fascination with the most painfully perverse potentials of adolescence.  And they feature characters who are indeed harmed by the actions of their peers, their tormentors, but who also participate in their own pathologies through the misjudgments and self-pity and fascination with their own pain that is so often a focus of the adolescent mind. 

I can see these books' appeal to young women; I remember that fascination well.  And perhaps it's OK for the market to offer books to meet the demand for teenage-woman-as-victim novels spurred by the Twilight phenomenon and perhaps by Laurie Halse Anderson's pre-Twilight, (actually quite worthwhile and non-exploitative) novel Speak .  But personally, I'm having trouble with this trend.

Here's a case in point: Stolen by Lucy Christopher.

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater: What She Read Review

Get it at betterworldbooks.com or
indiebound.org!  "Look inside" to sample
Stiefvater's prose at Amazon.com.

Better than Twilight. 

- Equally remote setting: northern Minnesota small town. (Can you say Forks, Midwest?)

- A stronger, more thoroughly-formed heroine. 

- Effective use of alternating perspectives. 

- Aptly placed literary quotes to heighten the gravitas.

- Serious romantic tension not based on one character regularly dropping in to save the other's life with his supernatural powers.  In fact, plenty of alternate saving makes you think these romantic leads might just be equals.  Imagine that.

- Plus: wolves instead of vampires.  Mmmm... much better.  (OK, so there are wolves in the other one too, but not with this premise...)

Perfect?  Five star?  Nah, but let's say four.  An enthusiastic four, fo' sho'.

Typical issues: Um, where are her parents?  (Yes, there's an excuse, but it's not any more believable than the absent 'rents in any other paranormal Y.A. fiction.) How come no one else found out about the wolves for all these years?  Why don't they just move south?  Why the teen sex scene (although not explicit, I continue to wonder why these are such a requirement now)? That sort of thing...

Still, it reads swiftly throughout, and can't be put down at the end.  (expect heart pounding, nail biting, staying up until you're finished, etc.)

I hear there are two sequels out there.  Summer reading?  Would make a great beach book...

MFB,
L

Actions: I will...
- Netflix a current documentary about wolves. 
- research the current state of wolves in the U.S. and in my state to see what might be done to help preserve them.

Witch and Wizard by James Patterson & Gabrielle Charbonnet: What She Read Review

Betterworldbooks.com offers 20% off used books
for Earth Day, so if you're going to get it, get it there.

Witch and Wizard is a young adult Collins-meets-Rowling page-turner.

The believable, sparky voices of our two first-person protagonists (and title characters) will definitely draw readers in, the uber-quick pacing with 2-3 page chapters, and the many punny references to current books, movies, and slang will make young, savvy readers smile.

From the title, one might misjudge the focus here, as Witch and Wizard is less Harry Potter, more Hunger Games dystopia w/magic bubbling beneath the surface.  In fact, it's more Maximum Ride than either, although The One Who Is The One is a shameless iteration of He Who Shall Not Be Named, as protagonists with special powers stretch their fledgling wings.
The plot? Wisty and Whit (soon, I imagine, to be played by Mylie Cyrus and Cory Monteith - when he's in his 30's and still looking the stud high school quarterback) are two lovably irreverent and gorgeous teens who are imprisoned by America's new totalitarian regime, only to discover that the hip woodsy outings and pacifist vibe their parents have been espousing all these years are nothing but Wicca warmed-over, and that they themselves have inherited the new Wicca 2.0 skill set.  As the siblings perform progressively more magical but unlikely feats of escape and survival, they - surprise! - become adept and increasingly powerful at their crafts, then set out to save all the kids of the world from the evil One Who Is The One and all his henchfolk.

It's a fast read, full of "What?  You expect us to swallow that?" moments:  Why are they allowed to bring a book and a drumstick into a top-security prison?  Where did they get the piece of wire and the Dixie cup?  Which one was Billy, and why did he betray them?  Why did the spell that turned him into a snipe wear off in an hour, but the one that turned her into a mole rat didn't wear off at all?  That sort of thing. 

And the shifting first person narrative can get annoying as it doesn't alternate by chapter and the siblings' voices aren't so very distinguishable sometimes, so you're a page into one of the many 2-3 page chapters here and then you realize:  Oh, it's Wisty, not Whit.

On the other hand, it definitely passes the time quickly and - for once in a recent YA read - there's no egregious sex or violence (though there's a bit of generic, non-graphic violence, to be sure.)

It reminds me of Gideon's Sword in this regard:  It's a mediocre effort from a major genre writer, but one that demonstrates strong knowledge of suspenseful screenwriting, enough so that it's palatable all the way through, despite all the major heavy-handed moralising, half-envisioned alternate dimensions, minor characters flitting in and out at all-too-opportune moments, inconsistencies, and predictability.

If you can overlook the above and want to while away a few hours in a fast-paced adventure or hope to entice a 'non-reader' into a novel that's more like an action flick on paper, it actually IS worth a try.

MFB,
L

p.s.  Action:  Back to charting out my own YA novel, esp. since formula fiction seems to sell so well.  From this novel, it seems clear that one can't get sued for blatant copying of characters and plot points, so I'll make a list of books to model on, then at least sketch out setting, characters, conflicts for a book proposal or three.  For sure, it must be a series, right.

"What She Read" Review: Briar Rose (briefly)

It was kismet:  First, I noticed as I was commenting on a Facebook post that a Jane Yolen had also participated in that thread, and thought:  Is that the same Jane Yolen whose writing I've read about but never sampled?  It was.

Then I saw her Briar Rose recommended by a blogger on Sarcastic Female Literary Circle as a YA read with a strong female lead.

And I had $20 to trade at the used bookstore when I looked down at a pile in the current Young Adult Fiction section to see this cover.  Done deal.

So what is Briar Rose?  The myth of Sleeping Beauty translated into a fiction about the Holocaust.  Surprising.  And beautiful.

Jane Yolen's modern take on a classic tale offers a depth not often found in many current day remixes of old myths. 

She chose to go this genre one better, offering up her formidable skills as a storyteller - you're in the palm of her hand from page one - to shed new light on a rarely-viewed aspect of Polish history during World War II.  In so doing, Yolen honors people who might otherwise have been forgotten and reclaims the Sleeping Beauty tale for a new generation of men and women.

It's the story of Becca Berlin who makes a promise to her dying Gemma that she will seek out Gemma's murky history and bring it back to her family.  Really, that's it.  Except: There are actually two settings (Massachusetts in the 90's & Poland in the '30's and '40's) and three layered stories here:  Gemma's retelling of Briar Rose/Sleeping Beauty, Becca's modern hero's journey to discover Gemma's true history, and then Josef's story of survival in Poland during the Holocaust that reveals his version of that history. 

They're woven together naturally and skillfully: any reader growing up today or familiar with a variety of fictional forms will have no problem moving among these tales, all told with confidence by a master. 

I highly recommend it.  And I think it might be my first five star YA book of this blog.

What'll I do:
1. Friend Yolen on FB and take a look at her other YA works. I'd like to keep in touch with her, esp. with regard to supporting young women in their personal development.
2. Recommend this book to my teacher-friends & book group.
3. Research and read the "real" version of the Sleeping Beauty tale, which is one I missed growing up.  Perhaps check out some feminist perspectives on it too...

MFB, wide awake,
L

And it wins a perfect score for the Bechtel Test:
1. Two or more women?  Yes, a grandma (Gemma), three sisters (Shana-Sylvia-and-Becca constitute a Regin-Goneril-Cordelia-ish triad, lite version as the older two sisters are merely obnoxious rather than deadly), and a best female friend, plus a number of ancillary male and female characters.
2. Do they converse for more than a minute or two?  Yes.  They talk a lot about history, friendship, family.
3. Do they converse about subjects other than men?  Absolutely.  They are seeking to understand Becca's family history, so little of the story focuses on romance. (OK, a little, but it's in the backdrop, not a central issue.)

A caution:  Do know that even though the book is considered young adult fiction, Yolen does not evade or avoid sexuality - a trend now typical in YA lit..  In fact, one character's sexual acts are described pretty specifically.  Just a heads-up for younger readers.

Jellicoe Road: Out On A Limb at the Corner of Fate & History



click here to "look inside"

The search for a truly great young adult read continues. 

This 2009 Prinz Award winner (for Excellence in Young Adult Fiction) by Australian author Melina Marchetta provided diversion and certainly offers more than your average YA read, but right now that's as far out on a high limb as I will climb in praise of the novel.  (It's dangerous out there: read this book and see...)

And yet.  Imagine its teen appeal:

* Townies meet Cadets meet Academy students for war games.
* Violent death meets little girls in boarding school.
* Kidnapping meets cow manure.
* Innocent flirtation meets intense sex.
* The redemptive power of telling our stories meets a puzzle-piece mystery and a book within a book.

Throw in 80's pop references and the occasional nod to To Kill a Mockingbird and you've got yourself a YA novel.

If you're drawn to strong yet mercurial protagonists, teens battling to-the-pain using strategic military maneuvers, and family drama doused in a heavy dose of fate, then this just might be your next great read.

Action Jump-Starts
* Online Inquiry & Action:  Find out more about Australia, especially Jellicoe Road and the Australian bush.  Let me know if you sleuth out just where this road is. Me? Tried. MFB. OR:  
Reach out to kids whose parents have died or must be absent.  Try Friends of Orphans or maybe National Foster Parent Association.  Offer to help.
* Creative Spark: Take an episode from your childhood and tell it like a fiction.  Offer suspense and challenge and intense emotion. Let it become a new story rather than history.
* Connection: Look up a long lost childhood friend or revisit a childhood memory, especially one that involved your friends and play out in nature. 

My action:  Connection.  In search of Gregory Shumeister.  My childhood pal from Jones Road. Wonder where that kid is now?  Anybody seen him?

Just the Jist List
Title: Jellicoe Road
Author: Melina Marchetta
Genre(s): Young Adult Fiction (Prinz Award winner)
Year Published: 2008
Pages: 432
Author's Website: http://www.melinamarchetta.com.au/
Overall rating: ***+

Get it at:

or

MFB,
me



Extreme mean girl dies, exceptional novel ensues.



Sample Ms. Oliver's prose: click the cover.

 The construct seems improbable at best, and carrying it off - especially by a novice writer - seems impossible: Rich, mean, popular senior dies in a drunken car crash, then returns to earth to experience her last day six more times, reshaping the events of the day and learning each time. 

And I hated the four main mean girls so much that I just about tossed the book after the first 1/3, thinking:  My god, but this writer has captured them so perfectly and in such vividly fun detail that she's actually glorifying their unrepentant, unremittingly judgmental and condescending stance toward every person they encounter.  Ms. Oliver has them pegged and makes them seem cool, and that truly revolted me.

But then.  I popped over to the blogs of two readers I trust, public school librarians both, and they gave this YA novel high, high marks, so I continued.  I shall be ever grateful to them for their good taste. 

At "day four" of protagonist Samantha Kingston's re-dos, this novel deepens somehow, and Oliver's close first person recounting of Sam's responses, emotions, and sense impressions begins to shimmer from time to time while the events move forward apace - tautly strung so that our knowledge of Sam's death doesn't interfere with our tandem journey through each day.

And by the last third we are entirely enthralled, unable to unstick ourselves from Sam's moment to moment experience as the occasional sensory shimmer snowballs into regular intervals of cleanly delivered quotidian beauty while the intensity of Sam's progress escalates. 

And it all works.  Works to the degree that my heart actually started beating faster and my breathing accelerated for the entire last third of the book.  I think the last time this physical phenomenon occurred while reading was many years ago, finishing the last 80 pages or so of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire when Voldemort tries to kill both Cedric and Harry (see, I refrain from a spoiler there too!).  I wish it would happen more frequently, but then perhaps Oliver needs to keep writing novels.*

Is it a perfect book?  No.  Would I have done some things differently?  Yes.  But any commentary about these issues would again become a spoiler, so suffice to say that a book does not need to be perfect to be dazzling.

I don't think it's too much of a spoiler, given the expectations any seasoned reader would have for character development based on the book's premise, that one unnerving lingering take-away for me is not so optimistic:  It takes a violent death to change a mean girl.  This gave me pause, and cause to reflect.  Is it true for you, as it has been for me, that you've never personally met a mean girl who went nice?  Or can you offer a more heartening experience?

Action Jump-Starts:
* Online Action and Inquiry:  Research the mean girls' style of relational bullying and programs designed to address these behaviors. This article about playground gossip came out just yesterday on Education Week: It's a great start. Both the "Steps to Respect" program mentioned in the article and Social Smarts seem to offer worthwhile projects one might embrace. Perhaps you might check out Dan Savage's It Gets Better Project for additional ideas. Here's another possibility: About.com: Five Tips on Dealing with Mean girls.
* Creative Spark: These girls LOVE outfits.  They're constantly changing clothes.  Go make three new outfits from what you've already got in your closet and wear one right now, just because you can.
* Connection:  Look around your neighborhood and your community.  If there are kids, there are mean girls - and bullies of all sorts - and there are victims.  Call your school district and teen community center.  Ask how you might help for a few hours with their service projects and/or anti-bullying campaigns.  Alternatively, learn how to move from bystander to advocate and be ready to do so whenever you're in public and see teens acting mean.

Me? It's time for some light-hearted creativity to balance all the community-minded long term projects from last month:  I'm going shopping in my own closets... Anyone for a mean-girl make-over?

* FYI: Oliver's new novel, Delirium, just came out yesterday! (Honestly, I just looked it up before posting this.)

Just the Jist List
Title: before i fall
Author: Lauren Oliver
Genre(s): contemporary young adult fiction
Book's Website: http://www.laurenoliverbooks.com/before-i-fall.html
Author's Website: http://laurenoliverbooks.blogspot.com/
Year Published: 2010
Pages: 470 (but a fast read!)
When was it read? January 22-23, 2011
Perfect Matches: high school age or older - lots of (sadly) realistic drinking, drugs, talk of sex; people hoping to change or wondering how change can happen; people who enjoy unusual structures for fiction
Perfect Timing: just finished The Girl Who Fell from the Sky or A Great and Terrible Beauty
Perfect NOT: not comfortable with mean girls, or with pretty "adult" content, or with violence or suicide
General Fab Scale (1-5): ****
Why? Gripping read, realistic, funny in appropriate places, lyrical in others, thought-provoking, evocative
Action Fab Scale (1-5): ****
Why? Beyond doing something geared toward helping high school students deal with that wonderful-horrific time in their lives, I can't quite see much content-related action.  On the flip side, this would be a perfect opportunity to write to the author, write a chapter from a different character's perspective, write an additional "day" for Sam....
# Yellow Stickies: 10
Why? At about Day Four, many thought-provoking, beautiful passages emerged.  In the last 1/3 of the book, I could not stop to sticky.
Get it:  (again, I'm not an affiliate - just making it easy to purchase)

MFB,

L